Trump: I'd date my daughter

Rep says tycoon just being funny

March 08, 2006

NEW YORK — Donald Trump joked that he would date his 24-year-old daughter, Ivanka -- if he weren't her father.

Trump and Ivanka Trump, a vice president of real estate development at the Trump Organization, appeared Monday on ABC's "The View" to promote her five-episode stint as a boardroom adviser on "The Apprentice."

When asked how he would react if Ivanka, a former teen model, posed for Playboy, Trump replied, "It would be really disappointing -- not really -- but it would depend on what's inside the magazine.

"I don't think Ivanka would do that, although she does have a very nice figure. I've said if Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her."

His comments drew laughs from the audience, and prompted "View" co-host Joy Behar to crack, "Who are you, Woody Allen?"

Trump's representative, Jim Dowd, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Trump "was absolutely joking." "He was making fun of himself for his tendency to date younger women," Dowd said. "It's a sense of humor that people don't see [from him] all the time."

Trump's 35-year-old wife, Melania, is expecting the couple's first child this spring.

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The Personals page was compiled by Cheryl Bowles from Tribune news services and staff reports.